This evening before dinner, I headed out the door to clear the wooly mind that resulted from too many hours at the keyboard. Five minutes into the walk, a flock of Canada geese the size of this one flew directly over me at about 200 feet.There was nothing unusual about that. Flocks of geese fly over this valley most mornings, heading south, and most evenings, heading north. But it quickly became apparent that something extraordinary was happening. No sooner had the flock passed over than … [Read more...]

If you feel the urge, don't be afraid to go on a wild goose chase. What do you think wild geese are for, anyway? - Will Rogers Tonight I heard the wild goose cry, Wingin' north in the lonely sky. Tried to sleep, it weren't no use, 'Cause I am a brother to the old wild goose. -- 1950 hit record for Frankie Laine, music and lyrics by Terry Gilkyson … [Read more...]

If you are puzzling over the course jazz is taking in the second decade of the new century, this would be a good weekend to be in New York at the Winter Jazzfest. The event is packed with young artists making waves that excite fans their ages and younger, and frustrate many older listeners who have rigid convictions about what constitutes jazz. There is a wide range of musicians and styles, but the prevailing direction is forward, not back. It is an intriguing festival that has Jenny Scheinman, … [Read more...]

A memorial service for Stacy Rowles is set for Sunday, January 10, in the auditorium of the Musicians Union local in Hollywood, California. The growing list of more than fifty musicians who will perform in tribute includes Pete Christlieb, Joe LaBarbera, Charlie and Sandi Shoemake, Gary Foster and Mike Melvoin. The trumpeter and singer died in late October of injuries from an automobile accident. She was the daughter of pianist Jimmy Rowles. The affair will start at 11:00 a.m. and run into the … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Ty Newcomb sent a link to video of the Dutch singer Fay Claassen doing Gerry Mulligan's "Line for Lyons." After enjoying it, I noticed that YouTube has another version of the piece by The Dave Brubeck Quintet. What to do? Why, show you both, of course. First, we see and hear the composer with Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Jack Six and Alan Dawson at the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1972. The director goes berserk with reverse zooms out of the stage lights, but a little dizziness is a small … [Read more...]

On his JazzWax blog, Marc Myers begins a series about pianist Dick Hyman. What a good idea. The first installment of the interview adds a video clip of Hyman and Billy Taylor doing a two-piano duet on "Hot House." If you thought Hyman played only Scott Joplin and James P. Johnson, read Marc's interview, then watch that clip. … [Read more...]

Gary Peacock and Marc Copland, Insight. Marc Copland, Alone (Pirouet). Copland's previous explorations on the fine German label Pirouet were four trio CDs and one by a quartet. In these new ones, he pares down personnel but not his signature keyboard touch, melodic inventiveness or harmonic astringency. Peacock, the brilliant bassist, gets top billing in the duo album, but he and Copland are full partners. Laced with chance-taking adventure, their interaction nonetheless produces an overall … [Read more...]

I have been robbed of three million dollars all told. Everyone today is playing my stuff and I don't even get credit. Kansas City style, Chicago style, New Orleans style, hell, they're all Jelly Roll style. --Jelly Roll Morton When Jelly Roll said that he wrote his first jazz tunes in 1902, or that he used scat-singing as far back as 1907, there is not only no proof to the contrary, but Jelly's own considerable accomplishments in themselves provide reasonable substantiation. --Gunther Schuller … [Read more...]

Film producer Andrew Thomas writes with news of what perhaps everyone but Jack Berry and I knew: Like many fans of Vince Guaraldi, I make sure that Google sends me an alert every time he's mentioned in posts and blogs, so I was directed to this Rifftides page. I was surprised by your suggestion that there is little evidence of Vince on film or tape. There is actually a decent amount, and much of it is included in the feature-length documentary I premiered with my partner Toby Gleason at the … [Read more...]

On a New Years eve in the mid-1960s, my wife and I attended a dance with music by Duke Elllington. At midnight, Ellington nodded casually and the band concocted a head arrangement of "Auld Lang Syne" that sounded very much like this. As you listen, please accept the wishes of the Rifftides staff for a perfect 2010. … [Read more...]